Cards with singly oriented face indicia and related back indicia



Feb. 18, 1969 R. S. FRIED NGLY ORLENTED FACE INDICIA CARDS WITH s1 AND RELATED BACK INDICIA sheet l of 2 Filed Oct. 20, 1965 mvENToR.

Roban` S. Fried ATTORNEYS Feb. 18, 1969 R. s. FRIED 3,428,323

CARDS WITH SINGLY ORIENTED FACE INDICIA AND RELATED BACK INDICIA `Filed oct. 2o, 1965 i sheet Z of 2 44 ERIES 107 CRITIQUE United States Patent O 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A teaching aid for learning to play cards including a bridge deck of playing cards comprising a plurality of suits of cards wherein each suit comprises a sequence of individual cards having a tace and a back. Value means, which is positioned for reading in a single preselected orientation only, is provided on the face of each card for designating the face value of that particular card. Different indicia are provided on the back of each card and are positioned at the bottom of the cards so that the indicia will be hidden by the hand when the cards are held in the hand with said preselected orientation. A different key card for each player is provided wherein each key card has different indicia thereon corresponding to the indicia on the back of respective ones of the playing cards so that the playing cards ybearing the same indicia as specified on a particular key card are distributed to the player having said particular key card. Critiques are provided for explaining the best possible play of the hands when arranged in accordance with the indicia on the key cards.

This invention relates generally to a teaching-aid and, more particularly, pertains to an apparatus for and a method of improving the play of a game of cards, such as bridge.

The fundamental rules for playing a card game such as bridge may be mastered very easily. However, it usually takes a considerable a-mount of time and experience before a person becomes proficient at playing the game. Thus, it would be most advantageous for a tyro bridge player to have an expert about who could give the beginner helpful instructions on how to bid and play his hand to obtain a maximum score or, in the alternative, to explain how he (the expert) would have bid and played the same hand, thereby allowing the beginner to analyze his own performance in light of the experts advice. Taking bridge lessons under the tutelage of an expert, however, usually involves an exceedingly high cost.

The main object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus which allows a bridge player to play a prearranged hand. The apparatus further provides for the analysis of the players performance in light of a critique, prepared by an expert, specifying how the hand should have been bid and played to obtain a maximum score. Thus, the player has the benefit of an experts advice at a nominal cost.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a teaching-aid for helping a person to improve the play of his card game wherein the player may bid and play a prearranged hand uninterruptedly and in accordance with his method of play and then may compare his play with that of an expert. Thus, the players concentration on the game is total and is not broken by repeated interruptions after the play of each trick.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a teaching-aid for teaching a person to play a game of cards, such as bridge, which is simple to use and economical to produce.

An embodiment of the present invention includes a bridge deck oi playing cards having four groups of cards ice comprising sequences of cards forming a suit, in the conventional manner. However, the characters on the face of a card designating the value of the card are arranged so that the characters can be read when the card has one preselected orientation only. Each card is provided with different indicia on the back thereof which is positioned at the bottom of the card when the card has the preselected orientation. Key cards are provided which have a plurality of different indicia thereon corresponding to the indicia on the back of respective ones of the playing cards. Thus, each player chooses those cards from the deck having the same indicia as specied on a different one of the key cards. The playing cards so chosen are formed into a bridge hand with the cards in the preselected orientation so that the indicia are at the bottom of the cards and are hidden from view by the hand of the player.

The hand is then played according to the rules of the game of bridge. Thereafter each player compares his performance to an experts as set forth in a critique. Hence, the player can analyze his performance in light of the experts advice thereby to improve his game.

A feature of the present invention is: to provide a deck of playing cards with indicia on the back of each of the cards to identify the cards according to a prearranged code.

Another feature of this invention is to provide key cards having sequence of indicia thereon corresponding to the indicia on respective ones of the playing cards so that the cards so identied may be formed into prearranged hands.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of the tace of a card constructed according to the present nevntion;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view illustrating the back of the card shown in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3A-3D are front elevational views of respective key cards constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a card hand comprising cards similar to the card illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, as held by a player;

FIG. S is a top plan view of a critique prepared in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is an elevational view illustrating the back of a card in accordance with a different embodiment of the invention.

The apparatus of the present invention will be described as a teaching-aid for the card game of bridge; however, this illustration is by way of example only and is not to be interpreted as a limitation of the invention. That is, the apparatus may be adapted to teach a number of dfferent card games as will become obvious from the description hereinbelow.

The apparatus of the present invention comprises a pack of cards which includes a conventional bridge deck of playing cards. More particularly, the deck of playing cards comprises four groups of cards. Each of the groups constitutes a sequence of cards forming one of the conventional suits-spades, hearts, diamonds or clubs. Each of the sequence of cards forming a suit includes a numerical sequential arrangement which extends from two to ten anda Jack, a Queen, a King and an Ace,

One of the playing cards comprising the deck of the present invention is shown in detail in FIGS. 1 and 2 and is designated generally by the numeral 10. The card 10 has a face 12 and a back 14. Provided on the face 12, in the upper left-hand and lower right-hand portions thereof, are respectively characters 16 and 18. The characters 16 and 18 designate the face value of the card 10 in the conventional manner. However, unlike conventional playing cards, the characters 16 and 18 can be read only when the card has a specic orientation corresponding to the orientation shown in FIG. 1. That is, the characters are arranged so that both characters will be positioned to be read at the same time rather than one character being upside down as in a conventional deck of playing cards. The same is true of the suit designations as shown by the hearts which are all in the upright position. Moreover, it is to be understood that the characters and suit designations on the faces of the remaining cards comprising the deck of the present invention are similarly arranged so that they can be easily read when the respective card has a single predetermined orientation only.

Provided on the back 14 of the card 10 is `a design 20 that is spaced from the edge of the card to dene a marginal area 22. Indicium 24, in the form of a number, is positioned in the bottom portion of the marginal area 22 of the card 10. Different indicia are respectively similarly positioned on the remaining cards comprising the deck of cards of the present invention so that a card may be located by observing the indicium on its back. Thus, each playing card will have a different code designation on the back thereof.

The pack of playing cards of the present invention,

in addition to including the deck of cards described above,

also includes a set of four key cards respectively designated by the numerals 26, 28, 30 and 32 in FIGS. 3A-3D. The respective key cards are provided with identical series numbers 34 `and different player designations 36. For example, the key cards 26-32 bear a series designation 107 while the card 26 bears a player designation of South. Each of the key cards 26-32 is divided into three games respectively denoted Game 1, Game 2 and Garne 3. In practice, each key card may have more or less than three games thereon. Each one of the three games is followed by a different sequence of thirteen indicia corresponding to the indicia 24 on the back 14 of the respective ones of the cards comprising the deck of playing cards. That is, an indicium appears only once in a set of key cards for each game. Moreover, one of the four key cards 26-32 carries the designation Dealer for each game. Thus, for Game 1, the key card 26 bears the Dealer designation while for Game 3 the key card 32 bears the Dealer designation.

The apparatus thus far described is utilized by distributing a diierent one of the key cards 26-32 to each player in the proper bridge sequence-north, east, south and west. The deck of cards is spread out so that the indicia 24 are visible and each player chooses the cards bearing the same indicia as the indicia specified on his key card under the heading Game 1, for example. Since each card bears a different indicium and the indicium are non-repetitive on the key cards for one game, each player will have thirteen different cards. Moreover, since only the backs of the cards are visible when they are chosen, the players cannot observe the value of the cards chosen by their opponents. Thus, each player occupies the position corresponding to the player designation 36 on his key card. The cards 10 are formed into a conventional fan of cards land are held in the hand H (FIG. 4) in the conventional manner with the backs 14 of the cards facing the other players. The cards 10 are oriented so that the characters 16 and 18 can be read. Thus, the indicia 44 on the back of the cards will be positioned `at the bottoms thereof and will be hidden from view by the hand H. Accordingly, even if a player memorizes the relationship between the indicia on the back of the cards and the value of the associated card, he still cannot tell the value of the cards being held by the other players because the indicia are not visible. The card game is played as it normally would be played Iaccording to the rules of bridge. That is, the person having the key card which has the dealer designation under the particular game begins the bidding (i.e., for Game 1, the player having the key card 26 would start the bidding).

The apparatus of the present invention further includes three envelopes such as envelope 38 in FIG. 5 wherein each envelope bears the same series number designation 40 corresponding to the same series number 34 marked on the key-cards 26-32. However, each of the three envelopes bears a different game number designation corresponding to the game divisions on the key cards. Obviously, if the key cards contain more or less than three game divisions, a similar number of envelopes will be providedgReceiyed within an envelope 38 is a critique 42 (shown in FIG. 5) imprinted with the same series number 44 corresponding to the series number on the respective key cards 26-32. Thus each separate envelope 38 will contain a critique for one of the respective Games 1, 2 and 3. The critiques 42 are prepared `by a bridge expert or by bridge experts. The critique specifies how the expert would have bid and played a hand comprised of those cards bearing the indicia set out under the appropriate game number on the key card having the same series number as the critique, to obtain a maximum score.

After the cards have been distributed and the hand has been played, in the manner described above, the players remove the critique from that envelope 38 which corresponds to the game number played (i.e., Game 1, Game 2 or Game 3) and read the critique which applies to their hand. Also, if Garne 1 has been bid, the player who is Dummy can open and read the critique shown in FIG. 5 and be prepared to discuss it at the completion of the play of the hand. The individual players may then analyze their play in light of the critique thereby to learn how to improve their play. After Game 1 is played and analyzed, the players may proceed to play Games 2 and 3 in a similar manner.

Accordingly, apparatus has been provided which teaches players how to improve their card game at a nominal cost to the players.

In accordance with a different and less complex embodiment of the invention, cards having regular faces are provided (i.e., there is no predetermined correct orientation) and the indicia 24 is positioned adjacent the outside edge of the back of each card, preferably in the center rather than the corner of a margin adjacent a narrow side of the card, as shown in FIG. 6 by indicia 24'.

It is obvious that other sets of key cards and associated critiques may be provided so that the players will gain more experience. However, each set of key cards and the associated critiques will bear a different series number so that a player will always 4be able to match a critique with the associated key card. Moreover, the key card and critique sets may be provided wherein the hands denoted by the key cards become more diiicult to play. Thus, some key card and critique sets will be designed for tyros while other sets will be designed for the more experience player.

While the present inpention has been described as a teaching-aid for the game of bridge, it may be used for other card games as well. However, diierent key cards and associated critiques will be necessary, as is obvious. Moreover, if less than the entire deck is to be distributed a key card may be provided which species the order in which the deck of cards is to be set up according to the indicia 24 on the backs of the cards.

While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described herein, it will be obvious that numerous omissions, changes and additions may be made in such embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A bridge deck of playing cards comprising a pluraility of suits of cards, each of said plurality of suits of cards comprising a sequence of individual cards having a face and back, means on the face of each card comprising the deck of cards for designating the face value and suit of the particular card, said means including value designating means similarly positioned on each of said cards in said deck adjacent the corresponding side edge of the respective cards, said value means being positioned for reading for a single preselected orientation only of each card, and different indicia provided on the back of each of said cards, said indicia being positioned at the bottom of the cards when said plurality of cards have said preselected orientation.

2. An apparatus for learning to play a card game in cluding a pack of playing cards comprising a plurality of groups of cards wherein each playing card has a iface and a back, each of said groups comprising a sequenceV of playing cards forming a suit, means on the face of each playing card for designating the value of each playing card, said value designating means being face indicia having a single predetermined orientation only, different indicia on the back of each of said playing cards for identifying the respective cards, said back indicia being positioned at the bottom of the back of each of said cards when it is held in a position such that the face indicia is upright, said apparatus further including a diflferent key card for each player of the card game, each of said key cards having different indicia thereon corresponding to the indicia on the back of respective ones of said playing cards, whereby the playing cards bearing the same indicia as specified on a particular key card are distributed to the player having said particular key card without observing the face of the playing cards.

3. An apparatus for learning to play a card game as in claim 2, wherein said indicia is positioned adjacent a corner of the back of each of said cards Within said marginal area.

4. An apparatus for learning to play a card game as in claim 2, and at least one critique associated with said key cards for describing, in detail, the best possible bid and play for the arrangement of playing cards specified in at least one of said key cards.

5. An apparatus for learning to .play bridge including a pack of cards having four groups of cards wherein each card has a face and a back, each of said groups comprising a sequence of playing cards forming a suit,

characters on the face of each of said playing cards for designating its value, said characters lbeing positioned in a single preselected orientation only of each playing card, dilferent indicia on the back of each said playing cards for identifying the respective cards, said indicia being positioned at the bottom of the respective playing cards when the cards are oriented with said characters upright, said pack further including four key cards respectively designated north, south, east and west, each of said key cards having a sequence of different indicia thereon corresponding to the indicia on the back of respective ones of said playing cards so that the players may choose those playing cards bearing the same indicia as specified on a particular key card Without observing the face of a playing card, one of said key cards bearing the `designation dealer.

6. An apparatus for learning to play bridge as in claim 5, wherein each key card bears the same series number, and a like plurality of critiques having the same series number as said key cards for describing the best possible bid and play for the arrangement of the playing cards as specified on each of the key cards.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 126,404 4/1941 Nussgruber.

1,418,020 5/ 1922 Reach 273-152.2 1,519,422 12/ 1924 Taylor 273-152 3,159,405 12/19164 Brambier 273-152.?. 3,236,524 2/ 1966 Shook 273-15-2.1 X

FOREIGN PATENTS 535,269 4/ 1941 Great Britain.

ANTON O. OECHSLE, Primary Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 

